Niko Kovac on Hoffenheim, Nmecha and boos for Schlotterbeck | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund recently suffered only their third defeat of the season, against Bayer Leverkusen. In their away match at Hoffenheim (April 18, 3:30 p.m.), BVB can show whether they have recovered from the 0-1 setback against the Werkself.

The clash with Bayer highlighted the gap left in midfield by the absence of Felix Nmecha. However, the 26-year-old is unlikely to return anytime soon after tearing a lateral ligament in his knee. Head coach Niko Kovac (54) lowered expectations at Friday’s press conference.

“We have to be careful not to come back too early,” the coach explained, adding: “A ligament injury is not that simple.” But Kovac hopes that Nmecha “will still play for us this season.”

Alongside Nmecha, BVB coach Kovac will also be without Emre Can (32) and Karim Adeyemi (24) against Hoffenheim. The latter is struggling with muscular problems. “We’re leaving him at home,” Kovac announced. One option is Yan Couto, who also had to miss the Leverkusen match due to muscular issues. Whether the 23-year-old Portuguese will remain in black and yellow beyond this season, however, is questionable.

Agreement with the team

Opponents Hoffenheim have struggled recently. The team from Kraichgau have won just one of their last seven Bundesliga matches. Even so, Kovac issued a warning: “Hoffenheim are still having a great season.” The 54-year-old praised them for playing “very intense football” and said they are also “the team that runs the most in the league.” While “the recent results haven’t been so positive,” “they were competing for a Champions League spot and were up near the top for a long time.”

With five rounds still to go, Borussia Dortmund are hardly likely to miss out on Champions League qualification. But Kovac wants to remove any remaining doubt as quickly as possible. He wants to “seal” qualification for Europe’s top competition “as soon as possible.”

Photo: IMAGO

To achieve that goal, he has made an “agreement” with the team. “We get one day off per week, and with wins they can earn themselves a second day off. The boys did that well against HSV and Stuttgart,” said the Berlin native. With a win in Hoffenheim, his team would have the chance to “earn themselves another day off.”

Kovac claimed he “didn’t notice at all” the whistles directed at Nico Schlotterbeck (26) last weekend. He admitted he “heard something during the game,” but did not connect it to Dortmund’s defensive leader. Schlotterbeck had “the same feeling.” “So everything is fine,” said Kovac.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.